2 Memphis men held in Buckhead home invasion plead not guilty

The two Memphis men arrested in conjunction with the May 25 home invasion crime in Buckhead have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the incident.

Mario Deandre Jackson entered his plea on Friday morning, while Leon Scott pleaded not guilty on July 29. Both have been indicted on robbery, kidnapping and firearms crimes after police

Left to right, suspects Mario Deandre Jackson and Leon Scott

tracked a Crime Stoppers tip to Memphis and discovered evidence allegedly linking the men to the May 25 incident.

According to prosecutors, police discovered a wedding band allegedly stolen from the Buckhead home at a Memphis pawn shop with a tag linking the item to Scott.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported at the time of Scott’s arrest that his cell phone was linked to one used by another person to call the victim’s home at 2 a.m. the morning after the robbery, though the victim was unable to understand what the person on the other end had said.

During a July 9 traffic stop, Georgia state troopers discovered Jackson allegedly in possession of two firearms reported stolen from other incidents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The robbers, allegedly including Scott and Jackson, broke into a home on Paces Ridge Road Northwest near Mount Paran Road at 9:30 p.m. on May 25 and discovered a man, his wife, and their three children inside. The robbers allegedly covered the family’s heads with towels and held them at gunpoint while they pillaged the home.

One of the suspects took the man to an ATM and forced him to withdraw $200. The suspects allegedly warned the homeowner that they would return in a matter of hours and hurt his family if he did not have more money for them.

The May 25 home invasion shares similarities with invasions which occurred before and after it; A couple walked into their home on Randall Mill Road on the evening of Jan. 31 and discovered an armed man inside. The man forced the couple to surrender jewelry and other valuables, then made them get into a car.

The man sat in the back seat with the robbed woman, and forced the other man to drive the car to an ATM on Northside Parkway. There, the robber made them withdraw cash from their bank accounts before dropping him off at a nearby street corner.

On June 21, two unidentified black males entered a home on Blackland Road and held two people inside the home at gunpoint while ransacking the home. Atlanta police spokesman Greg Lyon said the thieves made off with jewelry, money, credit cards and a cell phone.

One of the victims later posted on Facebook that the invaders blindfolded them, threatened them with weapons, and said that they would kill the homeowners if they didn’t follow a set of instructions the invaders left behind.

Buckhead residents put up a $25,000 reward for information that can lead police to the home invasion suspects.